Out There Everywhere
by SdeJP
Summary: Long before the Gunmen's demise, Ringo had his own ideas about fighting the future.
1. Chapter 1

Richard, Ringo Langly was a naïve, young, hatchling of a conspiracy theorist. He loved the Ramones, and REM. He favored Doritos over Fritos, and John and Mel were his bestest buds in the entire world. The only folks they trusted with everything they owned and knew were Mulder and Scully. Ringo and Mel were far more advanced and technologically educated than Byers, but John brought his own brand of esoteric expertise to their corporation of conspiracy theorems. The trio, cryptically known as the Lone Gunmen, was a conglomeration of hidden strength, genius and peculiarities, seldom rivaled.

With their line of work, disagreements often surfaced, but routinely ironed out, sooner or later. John and Ringo were usually the ones to sulk whereas Mel used his short stature to sneak around them, plotting, resolved to getting the job done. Of course, they all assumed they were masters in sussing out and keeping a vault load of secrets; they trusted one another with their lives. They were family, and all families had their quirks and liabilities.

So, when Mel accidentally stumbled upon an unfamiliar pill bottle with Ringo's name printed on the label, he naturally became curious and concerned. Even moreso when a quick search of the medication's name proved telling. Why was Ringo taking brain enhancing pills? He always seemed to always come across as a man who didn't need beefing up, or pharmaceuticals of any kind. What was he hiding? How long had he been taking these? Mel certainly wasn't stupid. He had to find out what was up with his blond, long-haired associate and long-time friend and ally. Was it ethical to just ask him out right about it?

Shrugging, Frohike set the bottle in the medicine cabinet back in place where it had obviously fallen from. He left the bathroom, figuring out a way to approach Ringo non-obtrusively later on. Right now he needed to shower, then do some extracurricular funky web-surfing. He crossed the hall to his bedroom, not hearing Ringo duck into the bathroom quickly right after him. He cleared his search history, not wanting Ringo to find evidence that he knew anything about the medication yet. Showering completed, Mel, now smelling like a fine fresh scent, left his bedroom just in time to spot Ringo stepping out of the bathroom. Mel spied the white cap of the medication bottle in Ringo's fist.

Time to seize the opportunity, Mel reasoned, or at least nudge the gate open a crack. "Hey, buddy, are you all right?" he fished, nodding toward Ringo's hand covering the bottle. "I saw that's yours. Forgive me for having eyes, but I didn't know you went to see a doctor."

Suddenly flustered, Ringo paused, sneaking a swift, guilty look at the bottle. "Oh, just something to take care of a bit of radiation overload; they're iron pills is all." His lie, smooth, but clunky, nonetheless. "You and your uranium, you know. A precaution."

Frohike nodded and decided not to press him any further. "Feel better if I threw some chocolate your way?"

That made Ringo laugh a little. The promise of unexpected chocolate. Score. "Yes, please," Ringo accepted, gave Mel a quick flash of teeth, then ducked back into his his room, underscoring the rapidity of his disappearance.

Mel scrutinized his friend's odd behavior while boring visual holes into the door of Langly's bedroom. Then, he moved off, intending to go out to their creepy, old, old school van. The type which parents warned their children to run away from. Their Volkswagen bus was borderline psychotic. He went through the office on his way to the locked, bolted front door to their new digs and headquarters for tactical snooping, a doublewide trailer situated in a lowkey trailer park that suited their clandestine needs.

Before Mel actually set foot outdoors, he sat himself down to hunch over his computer and began typing almost madly. Working on another scathing article for their website was endless, tireless work. With a grin, and led by inspiration, he finished the thought that demanded being completed. This came first, then the chocolate he'd promised Langly. _Wait_ , Mel thought. _While it's on the tip of my brain; I gotta do snooping of a more personal kind_. _What's the kid taking_? The hairs on the nape of Frohike's neck rose once he'd finished looking up the technical name for Ringo's pills along with all side-effects.

In the furthest bedroom down the hall, Ringo lay loose-limbed on his bed; his medication bottle had absent-mindedly rolled out of his hand. The bottle now rested at his fingertips on its side. He was certain Mel had seen through his lie and he knew that the one thing he had never shared with either of his two cohorts and best friends time had come. The one secret he knew they might fail to ever understand.

He hadn't breathed a word of what he had in mind. If he told them, would they understand? He was thinking long-term, planning for a future that might come sooner than anyone knew. The web was his salvation...and one day...come what may...he planned on making it his permanent home.

* * *

John had gone out of town for as long as he needed to be away. Some aunt had left him a lot of money, and he'd be a fool to just let it go. Besides, staying in San Francisco was no hardship. The city had always held an iconoclastic ilk of fascination for him, something therapeutic in connection with being close to the bay, and Sausalito, an enclave that held many a fond memory for him. Mel was back at the computer, digging deeper into Langly's mystery medicant and black book information. From what he'd found, the blond was taking some very disturbing stuff.

As if the smarty-pants wasn't smart enough... But there was a strong element of weird science surrounding the compound Ringo had decided to ingest. His pills would weaken his immune system, cause his flesh to attenuate, and destroy his appetite, over time. What was he doing, for goodness' sake?

Mel crushed a nearby Styrofoam cup, curiosity eating him alive. He stood, determined to get to the bottom of this withholding of vital, alarming information. With a giant-size Hershey's bar in hand, he knocked on the slightly ajar door before peeking in. He spied Langly still sprawled out on the bed like a limp ragdoll with a head of too much hair, bizarrely electrified. Mel set the candy bar down on Ringo's chest, stirring the lanky geek out of his head as he sat down on the bed.

Ringo peeked out at him from under his arm that was across his face with a little startled snort. Promptly, he calmed when he saw a peculiar sensitivity lodged in Frohike's eyes. He surmised he wasn't about to be pounced on. Langly sat up against the headboard, quietly contemplative. When he spoke, what he said came out a bit hoarse, laced with a croak. "So, finish the article?" he asked as he began unwrapping his candy. Surprisingly, once he mostly had it unwrapped, the milk chocolate was mildly soft, just how he preferred it.

With a shrug, watching Ringo as he munched his treat, Mel replied, "Well, Marfa and all that jazz is a lock. Hey, ever notice how Mulder laughs like Woody Woodpecker sometimes?"

Ringo nearly spit out a mouthful of chocolate with a laugh, wiping some melted goodness off his lip with a flick of his tongue. "Not as annoying as Scully rolling her eyes when he does." Ringo shook his head. "Gleebo knows how hard it is for her to cut him some slack, man."

Mel reserved comment; his sweet spot for Scully was alive and well and made his heart pound harder whenever she crossed his mind. "Blondie, get real. Scully's got it bad for Spooky. That's just her way of being in denial."

That made Ringo smile again too. Even Mel could see that Langly wasn't immune to the lady F.B.I.'s potent charms. The black eyeglass-framed one was totally all closemouthed about his true feelings. He saw no need to broadcast how big he would crush on her too. He and Mel were dancing around the subject still unspoken. Ringo had the itchy feeling again, wanting to confess and tell Mel the total truth about himself and his hope for the future, but he kept quiet. That unshakable fear kept his mouth shut. He wanted to come clean. Was this the time to? He was preparing himself for that day when he would bequeath his intelligence to the web, no regrets. He'd be the one to decide before more sinister powers that be used his gifts for their own malicious purposes.

He had just recently started taking the medication, finally finding information online and a source for a little bit of help. But still, he forced himself to keep quiet. _Speak_...the word resounded in his hyperactive brain. But, instead of speaking up and letting everything out, he picked up the remote and turned on his T.V., a refuge when facing reality was too hard. Finding a cheaply made sci-fi movie to watch with Mel, Ringo embraced the fair distraction in an effort to keep himself out of his head. They made fun of the nutty movie's cheap special effects and the "re-donkulous" storyline.

"If you make me watch _Sharknado_ with you again, I'll fake senility," Mel threatened playfully, getting another trifling laugh out of Ringo. He was all talk, no action. Once that hyped movie ended, another equally hilariously lame offering followed, _Shark Attack 3: Megalodon_. Mel, went right along with viewing it too, glad that Ringo wasn't distancing himself, pulling himself away emotionally. It wasn't like Mel, since he had a no hugging rule with generally everyone; he hated being hugged, but the urge to hug Ringo rose and took its time about going away. Mel hoped Ringo felt how hard he was emotionally hugging him right now. The situation truly warranted it. Right?

Mel had zero filter when it came to apologists on the wrong side of what he thought should go down. _Come on_ ; he needed to say something. Didn't he? How was this helping his obviously emotionally-cramping friend by keeping silent at a strange time like this? But, despite Mel's internal prods, he didn't say anything, opting to maintain 'radio silence.' If and when Langly felt like giving up what was going on with him, and uncorked what he was holding back, Mel would have his say.


	2. Chapter 2

Mulder had an idea, and of course the Gunmen wanted in on it. Thing was, Byers was going to be away longer than he'd anticipated, so that was going to leave the trio a man short. Frohike and Langly had no problem signing on for the road trip. Driving across the country would prove to be difficult, especially with Mulder's incessant chattering. Frohike volunteered to do most of the driving with Ringo riding shotgun, handling the GPS. Loquacious Mulder had no problem sharing the back seat with Scully so he could talk her ears off to his heart content.

Ringo still hadn't said anything to Mel about his secret; he still hadn't found a reason to do so...yet. He was thankful that Melvin hadn't brought up the medication he'd led Frohike to believe were iron pills, who knew than to press Ringo about it. When he was ready, he would say something.

So, here the four of them were, traveling to Marfa, Texas, following a probably empty lead that Mulder had gotten. He was bent on finding those little green men he was always running after. Scully, forever the skeptic, was here to temper Mulder, as always. Lately, though, she was more inclined to give him the generous benefit of the doubt. It wasn't like she hadn't witnessed scores and scores of fantastic events and incidences to remain as biased as she'd once been before throwing in with Fox. He was Spooky Mulder; she was Sympathetic Scully.

The Gunmen kept both of them honest.

Finally, after six straight hours of Mulder's endless jargon, Scully resorted to drugging him to put him to sleep, giving her fellow road trippers a little quiet time. Langly breathed a sigh as the welcome silence seeped through the van; the only noise came from the engine. It was surprising that for such a vintage model, it ran so well, all credit going to Ringo for keeping it in such good working condition.

With Mulder temporarily out of commission, Scully, Frohike and Langly could succinctly discuss the game plan for what came next.

"So, what's this new lead, Mulder told you about, Frohike?" Scully asked, giving her knocked out partner the eye.

Sighing, Melvin gave Scully an admiring look through the rear view mirror. Respect for her washed over him, thinking that he would always love having her around for companionship. "Well, supposedly, there's a wild bunch of subhuman creatures running loose in Marfa whenever the lights turn up. Right up Mulder's alley."

It was Scully's turn to shoot him a look courtesy the rear view mirror. Typical of Mulder, having her chase after freaky, elusive creatures again. Pouting with a sigh, she shook her head and gave Mulder a sloppy shove in annoyance.

"Don't worry, he's being dumped off to see his amazing lights, he won't be with us to see anything," Melvin tried to soothe, turning around to flash her a sporty grin. He lost that grin when Ringo groaned, not so quietly, and shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "You okay over there, pal?"

Ringo shrugged, dragging a hand down his face to wipe away the sweat that saturated him. He groaned again, prompting Melvin to quickly pull over to the widened shoulder of the road when Langly grabbed for the door handle that seemed to jig before his eyes. Frohike barely had the van still before Ringo bolted out to hit a patch of grass where he vomited violently. Melvin slammed the gear into park and leaped out to help him. Ringo had pulled his long blond hair back as he dry heaved.

Scully ran from the van, leaving Mulder, who was still out like a light. She charged up to the men, sharing a surprised look with Melvin. Worried about Ringo, since he'd grown on her after all this time, she considered him a close friend. Her tone of voice betrayed just how concerned she was. Frowning, she watched Melvin try getting Ringo to stand, and asked, "Can you stand, Langly?" He was still on his hands and knees. She moved in intent on feeling his forehead. He was clammy and burning with fever, which put her on high alert. "You're really ill!"

Ringo swayed, still in his crawling position. He tried not to sulk, and nodded weakly, wiping his face on his damp T-shirt. "Still getting used to my iron pills. Man-they're absolutely horrible!"

Mel rapidly saw a golden opportunity. He nudged Scully, mouthing, "Glove box" to her. He knew Ringo had put the pill bottle in there, undoubtedly another lame attempt to keep what he was taking hidden from everyone. Finding the pills, Scully instantly knew that they were far from being iron pills.

"Who gave you these?" she demanded, coming back to Langly and Frohike, scowling. "These are not iron pills, Langly. Where'd you get these drugs?"

Ringo clammed up; only groaned. Finally, he whined, "It's personal, not really safe to talk about."

"You're not dying, are you?" Mel asked, his tone raw, revealing his absolute fear of losing this dear friend. "I mean, come on Ringo; you know you can tell us anything. What did the doctor say?"

"Can we just get back on the road please?" Ringo snapped, his fear of being found out clouding his mind. "We gotta get there and check this tip out."

Melvin barked, "All right-all right, but hear this: We're stopping at the first motel we come to for the night. You and I are gonna talk about this. I've known they're not iron pills since the other day when I asked you about them. I just didn't say anything because it wasn't my business. But now it is because we're not gonna let you make yourself sick by taking whatever it is you're taking."

Back in the van, Ringo sat with his arms across his chest and his feet up on the dash, his head turned toward the open window to stay in the cool air. Maybe he'd better tell them what his plans were and face the consequences. Scully and Melvin kept quiet, as he drove, and Langly brooded. Scully was already piecing together clues and getting a general idea of why Ringo would need to take such a powerful inhibitor. Was he using them to prove some wacky theory he'd become obsessed with? Richard Langly...human guinea pig. Scully huffed loudly then, but didn't say anything that would sour the current mood even more. She just hoped that, eventually, she'd be able to talk him out of what he was doing with these powerful pills.

Mel drove on, terrified that Ringo had cancer or something inoperable and was taking the pills in an attempt to stay alive.

* * *

Half an hour later they were settling into a motel. Melvin and Ringo shared a room; Mulder had his own room, Scully had hers. Frohike plunked his bag down on the bed closest to the bathroom and parked himself, gesturing in the air to Ringo, who shrugged with a sigh and claimed the second bed.

Melvin judged he'd bided his time long enough. Dispensing with any preamble, he got right to it. "Whatever it is, you can tell me and you know I'll never tell them if you don't want them to know. I know how to keep a secret. I'm just so scared right now 'cause I can see all of this is stressing you and I know you're afraid of something bad happening."

Ringo rolled his eyes and knocked his bag to the floor.

"You're my best friend. Glad we're close. I know I can tell you anything and you won't think anything bad about me; I can so easily do the same for you if you'll just let me in and tell me the truth. Trust me, Ringo."

Ringo breathed out slowly, closing his eyes as he slid his glasses off his face. It was difficult wearing glasses when he had a headache. After a minute, his eyes opened again and he untucked his hands from his armpits. "I don't wanna die, Mel."

"Are you dying?"

"No!" Langly tersely replied. "I'm as healthy as a race horse. I mean, I don't wanna not be around, ever. I wanna go on, even when that means leaving this body behind."

Frohike's voice went softer when he asked, "What do you mean?"

Ringo shook his head, feeling tears sting his eyes. Suddenly words tumbled from his lips. "I wanna have my consciousness survive on and on and on. Indefinitely. The pills are the first step. Eventually, with the second step, I'll..." He gulped and stuttered, "Become absorbed by the Web."

Speechless, Frohike just stared a good, long while at his fanciful associate. "You're not making sense, pal. What gave you the idea you could do such a thing?"

Ringo shook his head again, tucking his hands back into his armpits, hugging himself before Frohike's disbelieving eyes. "I haven't exactly been totally truthful about who I am to you and John."

"Then who are you really?" Melvin asked, his tone soothing. "Tell me about the man I've counted on all the time."

Ringo, huffing as he snorted, said, "I dunno if you'll still feel that way when I tell you."

"Willing to make a bet on that?" he tried to joke.

He couldn't help feeling a little calmer, now that he felt confident enough to bring what he'd been harboring out into the open. "I wanna bring down the powers that be from the inside. From where what good I can do can't ever be stopped! No more theories on conspiracy. I wanna bring about real change. Concrete results!"

Neither spoke for a long while contemplating what Ringo had just said together in silence. Melvin blinked dumbly for a minute then smiled. "I can't tell you how relieved I am that you didn't just tell me you're dying or something. Langly, I was beside myself, so scared you were dying."

Ringo pulled back to look up at him, relief heavy in his eyes. "Nope. Not dying. Just engineering my own demise...and preservation of my intellect...for the greater good."

"Leave it to you, Ringo," was all Melvin had the guts to say.

"So you're not pissed off and tell me I'd better get with a good shrink for professional therapy, or tell me to get packing 'cause I'm too crazy to live you and John?"

Scoffing, Frohike waved Langly's misgivings off. "No, no and again, no. I think what you want to do is brave. Don't know if it's really possible to do, but if there is a way, I'll help you all I can. Who knows...might join ya, if and when living out here in the wild gets too insane. You not dying right now is what's important to me most of all, Richard. We'll always be best friends. I don't think you're mad. You'll always be a confidant. I trust you, John, Mulder and Scully more than anyone else in this screwy world. Tomorrow morning and for years to come, you're still going to be you. Whatever you decide."

Ringo, nearly drowning in relief, almost passed out. When he was more in possession of himself, he put his glasses back on and suggested they watch a little T.V. Their friendship, still just as effortless as it was when they'd woken up that morning. Ringo wouldn't need to say anything; Mel wouldn't say a word to anyone about Ringo's plans unless Ringo gave him express permission to do so. He knew it was not his place. Ringo would tell whomever, if he chose to.


End file.
